FRONTLINE – Circles [AOR Heaven Records release] *HQ*

As requested, here’s another very good album from German melodic hard rockers FRONTLINE – their second album with vocalist Stephan Kaemmerer, titled “Circles“.
”Circles” sees the band making some changes to their sound – this is still the melodic beast we all know, but with a heavier, menacing sound. The guitar work on this album also takes on a harder edge, with the riffs in particular sharper and more aggressive than before. Also, the soloing seems a bit more adventurous on ”Circles”.
This aspect of the sound brings Frontline’s sound a lot closer to melodic hard rock than the AOR-ish leanings of the past. From a production standpoint, everything is perfectly heard, polished.
Anyway, as with any Frontline album, strong and memorable melodies, accentuated by keyboard textures are a key part of the sound. That’s still remains true on ”Circles”, but again, from a slightly different angle. Just ballsier.

Even though there’s absolutely nothing original about the sound of ”Circles”, Frontline knows how to write and perform quality melodies. While the songs don’t jump on you as fast as older Frontline songs, I’m finding that there is a lot of emotion and interesting musicianship throughout the album to provide it with long term lasting value.
Stephan Kämmerer’s voice powers along through the songs with his melodic, smooth, and high pitch tinged delivery. During some of the darker moments (such as in ‘I Gave You The Rest’), he does add some unfamiliar harshness into his voice, which completely fits.

Don’t get confused, ”Circles” is still very melodic and catchy; ‘Say What You Have To Say’, ‘Into Deep’ (very House Of Lords-like), ‘Did You Ever (Taste The Pain)’ are pure bliss, just edgier than before.
I’ll be the first person to complain when a band changes its sound. In this case, I do think that Frontline have successfully refreshed themselves without forgetting who they are and where they came from musically.
”Circles” is a hard rock album firmly based in the sound of the late ’80s / early ’90s, but still sounding very relevant in the 21st century. Die hard fans of AOR or the band’s classic early sound might be surprised, but will love this album at first listen too.
Highly Recommended

01. No One
02. I Give You The Rest
03. Save Me
04. Did You Ever (Taste The Pain)
05. Say, What You Have To Say
06. Don’t Run Away
07. Hunter
08. Into Deep
09. It Is You
10. My Vision

Stephan Kaemmerer – Lead & Backing Vocals
Robby Boebel – Guitars, Keyboards
Thomas Bauer – Bass, Vocals
Rami Ali – Drums

out of print